Edited by niall ferguson new york, basic books, 1999 548 pp. International journal for theory and analysis of literature and communication on deepdyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your fingertips. Because the siege of troy was proving difficult, the frustrated argives went down to. Counterfactual history, also sometimes referred to as virtual history, is a form of historiography that attempts to answer what if questions known as counterfactuals. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Language and sources info in this extract ferguson takes these different essays and weaves them into a counterfactual narrative history. Probabilities, hypotheticals, and counterfactuals in.
What are we to make of books such as niall fergusons pioneering 1997 collection, virtual history. A counterfactual conditional abbreviated cf, is a conditional with a false ifclause. This means in order to assess the truth value of a counterfactual we have to make an assessment about. Q is true just in case the world most similar to the actual world in which p is true is a world in which q is true. Counterfactuals university of california, berkeley.
Second, w 1 comes out closer to w 0 than w 3 does, by the priority of 1 over 2. This volume explores the conceptual terrain defined by the greek word eikos. Fergusons ninetypage introduction is a brilliant manifestolike defense of the methodology of counterfactual history and offers a convincing justifica tion of the whole enterprise. Counterfactual history is misguided and outdated, as the first world war. This article proposes the theory that counterfactual analysis may be used not only for building alternative scenarios of the past but also as a methodology for. If it had been the case that p, then it would have been the case that q is true at a world w just in case q is true at all the possible pworlds closest to w. A term of art in greek rhetoric, a defining feature of literary fiction, a seminal mode of historical, scientific, and philosophical inquiry, eikos was a way of thinking about the probable and improbable, the factual and counterfactual, the hypothetical and the real.
Alternatives, counterfactuals, and the bible, biblical interpretation on deepdyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your fingertips. Bernstein published on hlaw january, 2000 whether dealing with students or with gener. University of erfurt full online reading at pdfbookslib. Those who downloaded this book also downloaded the following books. Counterfactual history, also sometimes referred to as virtual history, is a recent form of historiography which attempts to answer what if questions known as counterfactuals. Alternatives and counterfactuals, or a similar 2004. Edited by niall ferguson, virtual history applies counterfactual arguments to decisive moments in modern history.
When historical counterfactuals are stretched across too many causal links, they become too difficult to substantiate. Virtual history features contributions from talented, imaginative and wellregarded historians, led by niall ferguson. What if britain had stayed out of the first world war. First, it aims at highlighting one difference albeit in degree and not in kind in how counterfactuals work in general history, on the one hand, and in history. Historians have traditionally refused to ask questions of the past, preferring to assume that whatever happened was inevitable. It seeks to explore history and historical incidents by means of extrapolating a timeline in which certain key historical events did not happen or had an outcome which was different from that which did in fact occur. If history displays some characteristics of chaotic systems, the longer a counterfactual is stretched, the more assumptions must be added, and it becomes impossible to substantiate. Alternatives and counterfactuals by ferguson, niall from amazons fiction books store. Kornblith in their classic work, the rise of american civilization, charles a.
Thinking about history ebook by sarah maza rakuten kobo. Evaluative stance and counterfactuals in language and. By considering the connection between evaluative stance and emotion, the author explains the rhetorical connection between counterfactuals and feelings of relief and regret. But virtual history challenges this complacency as leading historians apply counterfactual arguments to decisive moments in modern history. The term counterfactual conditional was coined by nelson goodman in 1947, extending roderick chisholms 1946 notion of a contrarytofact conditional. Alternatives and counterfactuals by niall ferguson for online ebook. Com ford transit owners workshop manual torrent, wiring diagram of network cable, suzuki escudo repairmanual, omero iliade, 1996 club car wiring diagram 48 volt, virtual history alternatives and counterfactuals, permutation groups graduate texts in mathematics, auditing amp. Alternatives and counterfactuals niall ferguson these include the pity of war on wwi, the war of the world about the major conflicts in the 20th century including a stunning chapter on the armed slave labor camp that was the soviet union, and this book virtual history on counterfactual or what if history.
He says the rights declared purpose is to restore free will and contingency to history and to reenthrone the individual actor in history too often studied in terms of impersonal forces. Counterfactuals and explanation princeton university. Counterfactual history, also sometimes referred to as virtual history, is a form of historiography. Beard famously termed the civil war a second american revolution and in a. Counterfactual history wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Alternatives and counterfactuals in pdf or epub format and read it directly on your mobile phone, computer or any device. With respect to counterfactual history, evans thinks that the 1990s marked a real and unfortunate change, above all with the publication of a volume edited by niall ferguson called virtual. Virtual history available for download and read online in other formats. Pdf virtual history download full pdf book download.
Ferguson begins his introductory essay to this thoughtprovoking volume with the phrase, what if. Alternatives and counterfactuals by niall ferguson. These include the pity of war on wwi, the war of the world about the major conflicts in the 20th century including a stunning chapter on the armed slave labor camp that was the soviet union, and this book virtual history on counterfactual or what if history. What distinguishes history as a discipline from other fields of study. One history is as good as another and with it the blurring of factual, counterfactual and fiction. Review articles whats so different about a counterfactual. Alternatives and counterfactuals by niall ferguson, 9780465023233, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Counterfactuals, causal independence and conceptual. Counterfactuals is david lewiss forceful presentation of and sustained argument for a particular view about propositions which express contrarytofact conditi. It is, at the very root, the idea of conjecturing on what did not happen, or what might have happened, in order to understand what did happen. Alternatives and counterfactuals new edition edition. Counterfactuals and explanation boris kment on the received view, counterfactuals are analyzed using the concept of closeness between possible worlds. Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free prime shipping. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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